by Henry, Jane
One hour until midnight .
I walked out the door and wondered, where would she be? How would I find her? I needed to see her, to talk to her... but if I did, every second that I spent with her would be that much closer to exposing her to my family, and that couldn’t happen. Even my mother in all her interest in keeping me safe didn’t want to see that happen .
I had some time to kill so I drove to where we'd meet. I waited. And I waited some more .
I looked at the time on my phone. She was thirty fucking minutes late .
"Dante?" My stomach flipped in recognition and I smiled to myself before I turned to face her. Jesus, what that girl did to me. Her wide green eyes look up with me in eager anticipation, her gorgeous smile making me warm inside as it was directed at me. She still wore her name badge and an apron tied around her waist. My lips quirked as I tugged on the string and it fell into my hands. She flushed, the pretty glow of her cheeks warming me .
I wanted to ask her where she'd been, why she was late, if she was okay... but the only words that came out were, "Wanna go for a ride?" My voice sounded hoarse. She grinned, but then her face fell and she looked back over her shoulder .
"If I’m gone too long tonight, she'll miss me, and she’s in a mood,” she whispered .
"And if she misses you?" I asked .
She stared at me a good long while and bit her lip before her eyes glanced around her again. "She won't miss me for a little while. Maybe an hour ."
I grinned at her. "An hour will do. Get on the bike, babe ."
I held it for her and she swung herself up, wrapped her small hands around my waist and I kicked up the engine .
"So how was your day?" she yelled into my ear as I pulled onto the highway as if we were sitting having coffee and not sneaking away into the darkness. I could hardly hear her at all .
I chuckled. So sweet. "Day's better now that I've got you here," I said, realizing even as the words left my mouth how stupid they sounded, but I didn't fucking care .
She rolled her eyes. "Well, I haven't showered yet, so don't be so sure ."
"We can arrange to fix that, you know," I teased and she giggled against my back, a soft laugh that made my heart thump and my cock twitch .
"Where are we going?" she asked .
"Does it matter ?"
No. No it didn't matter, not a bit, and we both knew it .
I was going where we'd have a little peace .
We rode in silence, but the quiet seemed nice and natural, not forced. My phone buzzed, but I ignored it. I knew I had to be back. I knew my father was expecting me to close a deal, and soon, and if it didn’t go as planned, I'd have to make what my father called "a tough choice ."
"I'd hate to see anyone hurt," he'd lied, his lips betraying his greed as the quirking of his mouth showed exactly how he really felt. It was what he always said, right before he ordered someone's leg broken, a house ransacked, a trigger pulled. He'd said it so many times it'd become expected... the calm before the storm .
There were "tough choices" to be made working for him, but I'd already made the most difficult one of all, and now I was flirting with danger. You can do this, I told myself. You can protect her from the rest of them .
"Here," she shouted in my ear. "Why don't we stop here ?"
I smiled to myself. "Is that how a good girl asks?" I teased .
I felt her smile right down in my gut as she breathed in my ear. "Please, Daddy? Can we take this exit ?"
"Anything you want, baby," I said, warming at her words. I took the exit and found us meandering down a road that led to a park surrounded by trees, with a trail before us lined with picnic tables. During the day it might've been crowded but it was vacant at night and thankfully, lit by moonlight .
"Perfect!" she exclaimed .
I scanned the park until I saw a secluded bunch of trees. From there, I'd see anyone who followed us. I parked the bike and put up the kickstand, holding it steady while she got off, then me, and I took her by the hand, glancing around us .
We didn’t say anything at first. We didn’t need to .
I pulled her to me and kissed her forehead, holding her close for a moment before I released her. I led her to the trees and sat down, pulling her onto my lap as I did. She snuggled up to me, nestled her head against my chest, and her little hand held onto my shoulder .
"Perfect," she said with a contented sigh. "I wish it didn't have to be so rushed or secretive. But I know I can't stay for long, and neither can you. Did you ever wonder what would happen if we just said... fuck them ! You know? If you just said, hey, this is my girl and I said, I'm with him, and everyone would just have to get over themselves and we'd be who we needed to be without having to worry about what other people would do ?"
I smiled, my mind stuck on the words this is my girl , but I needed to move past that. "Did you just say a naughty word ?”
She flushed, her face hot against the bare skin at my neck. "I don't usually say curse words," she said .
"Uh oh," I tsked, pulling her up on my chest and giving her a stern look as I took her chin between my fingers. "You were a very bad girl. Does Daddy need to punish you ?"
She shook her head from side to side. "Nooo?" she said, hopeful despite her protest .
"Then you need to behave yourself," I said, "unless you want to be taken across Daddy's knee. Do you?" I asked .
This time, she hesitated before answering, “No!” I pushed her to the side and smacked her ass, hard. She gasped and got even closer to me .
"Come here," I said, taking her back in my arms and kissing her. I pulled away just long enough to whisper, "I missed you, Gabriella. I've been thinking about you all day. God, I'm glad you're back." And before I could kiss her again, she took my face in her hands and pulled my mouth to hers. She kissed with a passion that belied her innocence. My cock stirred. After a while, she let me go and settled back down on my lap .
"Jesus, woman," I groaned. "What the hell was that ?"
She lowered her lashes and clucked her tongue. "Now who's the one using bad language? Maybe you're the one who needs to be punished." She couldn’t even keep the giggle out of her voice as she pretended to scold me .
"Yeah, I don't think so," I said, gently pushing her off my knee so that she lay flat on her back in the grass, her wide green eyes blinking up at me in shock as I took both her wrists and pinned them to the ground, holding her down as I towered over her. God, I loved the feel of her beneath me like this, innocent and helpless, like I could do anything I fucking wanted. "Doesn't work like that, baby ."
"Oh?" she asked, her brow furrowing. "So this is a double standard, then," she said, shaking her head. "I do what you say or you punish me, but you can be as... potty mouthed and... bossy as you want ?"
"Exactly."
I lowered my mouth and trailed my tongue down the side of her neck before I whispered. "Total fucking double standard." I took her lobe in my mouth and bit down, causing her to squirm and moan .
A twig snapped, and I nearly released her. My instincts were immediately on alert, my senses awakened, as I stared around me. Had someone followed us? Were they onto me? I was never alone, never truly private. But to my surprise, a tiny brown-nosed deer stood just a few feet away, staring at us .
"Don’t move," she whispered. "They startle so easily ."
I froze, still holding her thin wrists in my hands, feeling her pulse on my palms as the wide-eyed doe stared at us, unmoving, so pretty, like something out of a fairy tale .
"Is that Bambi?" I whispered, and she snorted so loud it startled the deer. It tur
ned and fled .
I shook my head sadly at Gabriella. "You told me not to startle it, and look at you,” I scolded. “You really are trying to earn that punishment, aren't you ?"
She grinned but didn't reply .
"C'mere," I said, pretending to be gruff but really wanting to hold her close, because my heart still hammered in my chest from thinking we were being followed .
She burrowed against me as if she belonged there, her hand snaking around my waist and holding tightly .
"I'm tired," she admitted. "Worked so hard today. We had a school group come in for the lunch buffet, a party of businessmen from Japan who legit spoke no English, so I kept messing up their orders and they got mad at me and didn't leave me a tip. And then I spilled an entire five-gallon bucket of freshly made lemonade because I saw a mouse, a mouse , Dante, and I screamed and my stepmother was sooo mad at me she said she was gonna dock my pay even though lemonade costs, what, a dollar to make?" She sighed. "And my step sisters were going on and on about this... ball or dance or something that they want to go to ."
That got my attention. "Oh yeah?" I asked, running my hands through her hair. "And babe, your stepmother sounds like a bitch ."
She grunted. "Not gonna disagree with that. She sure can be ."
I held her against me and kept running my fingers through her hair, so soft and warm and fragrant, it soothed me, doing this. I hated that she'd been overworked and mistreated and there wasn't a fucking thing I could do about it .
"So what's this... ball or dance you're talking about ?"
Could it be …?
"It's like... a masquerade or something. People have to wear masks and dress up, and rumor has it that it's got something to do with the big family here in Vegas. You know the family that runs everything? The mob ?"
"The Villanovas?" I asked, my voice sounding too gruff, hollow even, but she didn't seem to notice. I swallowed hard. "Yeah. I've heard of them ."
A cold feeling coiled its way in my belly. Somehow, naming them—naming us —made it all too real. "Yeah, I've heard of them," I repeated .
How long could I hide who I really was from her ?
"So what about them?" I asked
"Ruby says they've done some very bad things but they're not all bad people ," she said .
I liked Ruby already .
"Yeah? And who's this Ruby chick ?"
Gabriella snorted and slapped her palm on my chest. "She isn't a chick. She's like really, really old. She's my most dedicated customer at the restaurant, and a really good friend to me ."
I definitely liked Ruby .
"Is she a girl ?"
"She's a woman! All grown up ."
"Then she's a chick ."
"Chicks are younger girls ."
"Not to me. You've got tits and curves, you're a chick ."
"You did not just say that ."
"Oh, I did," I said, not able to stifle my chuckle. She reached her hand out to playfully smack me but I nabbed her wrist and lowered my voice. "What'd I say about that?" I said, allowing my tone to grow harsher .
She froze and buried her head on my chest. "Sorry," she whispered .
She liked me being her daddy. I could see it in the way her chest rose and fell and her eyelids fluttered .
"It's okay, babe," I soothed, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Now tell me what happened with your step sisters." She looked up at me and nodded .
"Nothing happened, really. We talked about the masquerade thing, and they fought and caused a scene because they aren't always very nice people, and that was about it. Ruby told me that the masquerade would be a big deal but only the elite would be invited, so it didn't really matter to me anyway ."
I didn't want to talk about this. My stomach twisted and my hands clenched into fists. Everyone would be toasting the son of the king. There would be dancing and food and drink, but it was not a celebration. It was a death sentence. When I found the woman I would wed for life, I would have to be faithful, no matter who she was. I was a bastard, but I’d seen enough of the misery my father had caused my mother to know that I would never cheat on the woman I one day gave my name to. I would have to say goodbye to Gabriella, to her innocence and purity and goodness, and commit myself to my family, to the darkness, forever. And it was then, while I held her, the moonlight reflecting on her beautiful golden hair, her little hand innocently splayed on my chest in a show of trust and vulnerability, I knew that I'd been harboring hope. That somehow, I'd escape the darkness. That somehow, I wouldn't be mired in it. That I'd find a way to cleanse my soul of the sins I'd committed, of the blood on my hands that wouldn’t wash off .
I’d never admitted it to myself, but I'd somehow convinced myself that being single meant I could alter the future of the Villanova family, but I knew it was a lie. I stood no more chance of affecting change than a sea wall did of stopping a roaring monsoon. I was the son of the king, but even so, I was a pawn. A fucking pawn .
"What's the matter, Dante?" she asked, and her face tilted up to mine. Her large green eyes looked at me with such trust and concern that my throat tightened .
"Nothing, baby," I lied, forcing a smile .
She shook her head. "You tensed up just now. I could feel it, as if you were afraid or angry about something." She touched a finger to my cheek and brushed the scruff there. "You hold sadness in you, and I wish I could take it away. What weighs on you so much, Dante ?"
I shook my head. No, I couldn’t tell her. She could never know .
"I don't want to talk about it, Gabriella," I said. "Our time is short. Not tonight, babe ."
Not ever .
She blinked and stared at me before she nodded, and rested her head back up against my chest. I had to change the subject. "Tell me about Ruby. Who is she? And why is she a good friend to you ?"
"Ruby is a widow. She was married to her husband for like, decades, Dante. Decades . They got married after the war, which by now seems so far away. They were just young, she was twenty-one like me. Her husband was older, like you.” I grinned. I was only thirty. “He was like an investor or real estate agent or something like that. But he became super rich. Maybe even like a millionaire. She could afford to have a personal chef come and maybe live in her home and cook for her, but she comes to us instead. I'm not exactly sure why .”
I snorted. God, the girl could talk .
"Yeah, baby. She could. And she likely does, sometimes, you know. But I could make a pretty educated guess as to why she comes, and that reason is lying right here in my arms ."
She quieted then. "You're just teasing me," she finally whispered .
"I'm not teasing you," I said, my voice hardening .
"Yes, you are," she said back to me, her tone growing argumentative .
What the hell ?
I sat up and pulled her up with me so that she would turn around and face me. "Gabriella, what are you talking about?" I asked. "I’m dead serious. I don't know this Ruby person so I won't presume to know her motivations, but I do think there's a really good chance the reason why she's there every day is because of you ."
She blinked and shook her head .
"Don't deny it, honey," I said to her. "You're sweet and charming and funny. Why wouldn't she come just for you ?"
She sighed and looked away. "Well. Okay, fine, maybe she does enjoy me. I certainly enjoy her. In any event, Ruby was married for decades ."
So she wanted to change the subject. Fair enough. I could understand that .
"And then her husband had a heart attack and died. Dante, it was the saddest thing I'd ever heard
, her telling me this story. She talks about him with so much love, though. Says he was generous and funny and bossy, and that she loved that he was because she always felt safe around him ."
She smiled shyly. "And I understand all of that ."
I held her close and nodded .
"Dante, can you even imagine? Marrying someone and loving them like that? Knowing them for decades? For like longer than you didn't know them? It's funny how the world works, how two people living separate lives just meet. Is it by chance or fate or accident? I don't know... But I have thought about Ruby and her husband so many times. How she must've felt losing him. I've only known you for such a short time, and already..." Her voice trailed off, but I didn't need her to continue. I got what she was saying. Closing my eyes, I drew her close .
"Yeah, it's hard to imagine love like that, huh?" My voice was oddly husky, and hers was, too .
"She still wears the wedding band he gave her." She grew silent, and I didn't feel the need to fill in the gaps then. It felt nice being quiet, just the two of us like this. After a few minutes, she spoke up again. "My mom and dad were like that, you know." Her voice was almost a whisper .
"Yeah?" Mine weren't, but she didn't need to know that .
"Tell me about them," I said, holding her against me. My back had begun to ache a little, and I was thirsty, but I didn't want to move. Not now. Not ever. It was cool and quiet here, and we were alone. I knew our time was coming to an end, but I'd keep her as long as I could. I wanted to hear her speak. It was enough, just listening to her soft voice as she shared her innermost thoughts with me, just seeing her fingers entwine with mine. Soft. Secret. Special .
"They met in high school," she began, then she paused with a little laugh. "Mom said that Dad was the one who teased her the most, and Dad said it was only because he wanted the other boys to stay away from her ."
